Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Stop Making Sense

Mitt Romney had a dad who also wanted to be President. Dad's name was George Romney, and George, oddly enough, was born outside the United States (in Mexico) to Mormon separatists from Utah. They had left the country because they were against the idea that marriage should be between one man and one woman. Naturally, they felt it should be between one man and several women.

George Romney had a tendency to say things he later regretted. The most famous of these described his interaction with American generals while on a fact-finding trip he had taken to Vietnam in 1965: "When I came back from Vietnam, I'd just had the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get."

The public, perhaps rightly so, felt that someone who wanted to be President shouldn't be so easily led. They also wanted someone who had better control over his own mouth - in George's case, someone who could lie a little more.

In a lot of ways, George and Mitt couldn't be more different. George Romney was by many accounts a decent man. He was an early supporter of Civil Rights. When he decided to run for office, he immediately released ten years' worth of his tax returns. They showed that he was wealthy, but that he also gave large sums of money to charity and to the Mormon Church. George was the CEO of a company, American Motors, that actually made something: cars. Not very good cars, but cars nonetheless.

Mitt, as we know, made his living by borrowing huge amounts of money to buy, and then gut, formerly productive companies. By his own account, Mitt likes to fire people. He ties dogs to the tops of cars. He steals money from working people, then hides that money in anonymous accounts on Grand Cayman. He buggers small children. He eats the flesh of the living to satisfy his inhuman appetites.

With all these differences in mind, I find it interesting that one trait Mitt did inherit from his father is George's gift for saying the wrong thing. And in all likelihood, for not becoming President of the United States.